Mikey struggled to carry the woman's body with only one and a half arms. He was nearly covered in her blood as the rain washed it down his body, and he knew he needed to stop somewhere fast before she was gone completely. He turned on a faucet with his foot when he reached an abandoned building, before shoving his way inside and out of the rain. Immediately, his wet body began to shiver from the cold, but he refused to stop there.

To anyone else, it appeared that he was lost and simply seeking shelter, but the faucet's water splashed its way underground, alerting someone inside that they had a visitor. Mikey hoped to whatever forces were at work that he wasn't being followed inside, and he hurried through the stairwell's doorway to meet his ally in the basement.

Anticipating the arrival of a new patient, Dr. Harriet began setting up for her next visit. She wasn't visited too often, but she liked to be prepared just in case. The patient who was about to enter was the last thing she expected, however.

Mikey entered the office, panting and desperately clinging to a lifeless body that had coated his arms and plastron with blood. He placed her on the table as gently as he could before explaining what he had seen to the doctor.

She interrupted him before he could finish.

"I don't know what I can do about this, Mikey," she said impatiently as she wiped away blood to determine her patient's wounds. "You know I don't accept lost causes. There are too few resources to-"

"Please!" Mikey cried desperately. "Just, save her. Save one. We have to. Please, Harriet."

He was holding himself up against the table, still trying to catch his breath while ignoring the freezing cold against his skin. Harriet continued to identify areas of blood loss and began to work on stitching her up. "Well if you want to save her you had better get off your ass and help me."

As he was instructed, Mikey got to work applying pressure on wounds Harriet couldn't get to at first, and they worked as quickly as possible to seal up every cut they could see.

Soaked cotton and bandages surrounded the table on the floor, and as Mikey finished wiping away blood, the doctor checked for a pulse.

"I can't believe she's still got one," she sighed. "It's faint as hell, but we might actually be able to save this one. We can't stop now though, go to the fridge."

Doctor Harriet was no stranger to losing patients who came in after being attacked by foot soldiers. To avoid the soldiers witnessing her presence, every patient was near death's door, or was through it before she could even tell what was going on. If she was able to stitch them up and they still had a promising pulse, then she'd be able to move on to her next step- blood transfusion.

Equipment was nearly impossible to come by, but it was the only payment she accepted, so rebel groups put all their efforts into getting whatever they could for her and other doctors in the underground. It was just everyone's luck that she was O-.

They set everything up for the transfusion, and she checked for a pulse one last time. "We're good, check on our defenses while I begin transfusion."

After starting the process, Harriet began checking other parts of her patient's body for fractures and other injuries. Mikey made sure all exits and entrances were completely shut and blocked before returning.

"All clear, how is she?" he asked as soon as he entered.

"Mikey, I'm not sure she's worth the blood," Harriet replied, her hand ready to end the process. "You said they dropped her from a building. Her blood may still be pumping, but I don't even know if she can fully heal from this. She's going to be in unimaginable pain, and I can't even grasp the full extent of her injuries yet."

His brows furrowed and he grabbed her hand, almost too tightly. "Don't." His desperation broke his voice. "Please, Harriet. You can't just keep that blood stored and never use it."

Defiantly, she stared into his eyes, her hand grasping the blood sack. They stayed that way for a moment. Between Mikey's desperate need to save someone and her intense desire to save her blood for someone who really needed it, the tension was almost thick enough for the unconscious Ash to sense it.

Finally, Harriet released her breath and removed her hand from the blood. "Fine."

Mikey breathed a sigh of relief, but his momentary victory was cut short. "But, Michelangelo," Harriet warned sternly. "Once she wakes up, she's your responsibility. I want her out of here."

He nodded, swallowing as he accepted her terms. He stared at the woman he had just brought in, her blood drying on his plastron and on her skin. Anyone would know her injuries were beyond saving, that it would have been more merciful to let her die out there in the rain, but he couldn't stop himself from begging for her life to be spared. For just one life to be saved in the hell they lived in.

He watched as color started to return to her skin. Her breathing became detectable from where he sat. And as Harriet cleaned up her office and took inventory of the items she would need to restock, Mikey allowed himself to rest for the night. He was going to need it.


Please leave a review if you feel so inclined! I'm trying to fill out a sloppy vision in my head and I hope it translates alright. :D